This invention relates to work station systems suitable for offices, particularly such systems which employ elongate support beams and/or support walls that are mounted on the floor and that extend horizontally.
A variety of work station systems for use in offices and other work areas have been developed in recent years, many of these systems being designed for the purpose of using office space more efficiently. Because modern offices commonly require a considerable amount of electronic office equipment and cables and wires to operate and support same, modern office systems must be adapted to accommodate this type of equipment and must make it easy for workers and employees to use and operate this equipment in an efficient and effective manner. In addition, work station systems must take into account the need to have access to this electronic office equipment, including telephone units and the wires and cables for same, for the purpose of providing maintenance, repairs, and upgrades or changes to the equipment.
Work station systems suitable for an office which are based on an elevated, horizontal, structural beam support are known and used in the office furniture industry and these systems can be used to support electronic office equipment and phone systems. One such beam-type work station system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,177 issued Jun. 13, 1989 to Nova-Link Limited. This system is capable of mounting reasonably heavy electrical communication and computer equipment along the rear of a horizontal work surface. Support legs mount a beam of rectangular cross-section in a horizontal position above the floor while support brackets are detachably connected to one or both sides of the beam with the work surfaces being mounted on these brackets. Although this known work station system works reasonably well, the work surfaces provided by this system are not generally or easily adjustable or movable either in a horizontal direction or in a vertical direction.
Canadian patent application serial No. 2,207,344 filed Jun. 9, 1997 and assigned to Nova-Link Limited, describes and illustrates an improved beam-type work station system which not only employs a horizontal support beam and work surfaces mounted on at least one side of this beam, but also has a primary support wall capable of bearing reasonably heavy loads and mounted on top of the beam in a generally vertical position so as to be supported by the beam. This pending application also describes the use of a support wall extension which can be mounted on top of the primary support wall so as to increase the overall height of the support wall, which extension is detachable from the primary support wall. Preferably the primary support wall and any extension thereof have major surfaces thereof formed by metal panel members on which office equipment or shelves can readily be mounted by means of horizontally extending rails integrally formed on the panel members.
The aforementioned pending application also teaches the use of adjustable support brackets that can be mounted on one or both sides of the beam and that can be used to support not only electrically operated display screens and/or computer equipment but also horizontal work surfaces. However, although the support brackets are extendible to some extent in a horizontal direction, thereby moving the work surface outwardly away from the beam, any such adjustment does require some time and effort by the user or his or her equipment provider and therefore any such adjustment would only be carried out occasionally, possibly when the office was being reorganized or when new office equipment was required. Furthermore, this known system does not provide for any easy adjustment in the height of the work surface.
It is also known in the office furniture art to provide readily movable tables and desks, often by providing wheels or rollers mounted on the bottom of the furniture or at the bottom of the legs thereof. A recent example of a movable office desk with a keyboard support is that shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,299 which issued Jan. 6, 1998 to Haworth. Inc. This keyboard support stand includes a support frame assembly and a height-adjustable top work surface that is divided into two side surfaces. The legs of the stand extend upwardly from two horizontal base members which can have a rollable caster mounted at one end thereof to facilitate repositioning of the stand. A support foot is mounted at the end of the base member located away from the caster. One known difficulty however with movable office furniture is that they may not be suitable for computer and/or communication equipment which can be quite delicate and easily damaged by movement. For this reason, it is generally desirable to mount such delicate equipment so that its position is substantially fixed.
Another problem with movable desks and tables is that, if electrical equipment is placed or mounted thereon, loose cables and wires for this equipment can be a problem and can even create a safety hazard. There is a clear need to reduce or avoid entirely any loose cables and wires and to properly provide for conducting same to the desk
Devices such as protective sleeves and conduits for protecting and supporting electrical cable and wires are known in the cable and wire industry. For example, it is known to provide flexible, metal conduit which will protect wiring as well as persons and equipment located in the vicinity of this wiring. Rigid, metal pipes can also be used along walls to conduct and protect wiring and cable.
In particular, it is known to provide flexible, cable carriers for use in conjunction with large machine tools that have a moving machine component. One such cable carrier which is said to be self-supporting is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,577 which issued Apr. 21, 1987 to A & A Manufacturing Co., construction. Each segment has a generally rectangular cross-section with a hollow interior. The segments are pivotable with respect to each other a limited amount to form a flexible tube which fully encloses the cables or wires and supports same. The segments are preferably molded in one piece from a suitable plastic.
Also it is known in the modular office furniture art to provide rigid supporting walls that are mounted on the floor and not on a beam structure. Such walls can provide conduits for electrical wires and cables that are connected to office and computer equipment. Desk and shelving modules can be rigidly connected to these supporting walls.